Christmas Man
by CallyBee
Summary: Dr. McNeill disappears about a week before Christmas, during a trip to El Pano, and everyone is concerned about his fate. Will he be located and found before the holidays? Is he even still alive? Lots of unanswered questions abound in this story.


"Christmas Man"   
  
By: C. Blackwell   
Email Address: Storymakerone  
@lycos.com  
  
Chapter: One  
  
  
  
Summary: Dr. Neil McNeill is missing, after making a journey to  
  
El Pano, in order to get some much needed medial supplies  
  
for his laboratory and to meet with an old medical school  
  
chum. When he's missing for more than a week, search  
  
parties are formed to look for him, but they turn up  
  
nothing. Only his half-frozen horse Charlie, who has a   
  
sprained leg, and McNeill's blue neck scarf which Christy  
  
made for him for their very first Christmas together.  
  
Everyone is about to give up on the idea of him being  
  
alive, all except for Christy, who is both steadfast in  
  
her faith in God and her love for the good doctor. Prompted  
  
by her belief that her husband is still alive, she urges  
  
David to form another search team, which David isn't to  
  
in favor of because of the very bad snow conditions outside.  
  
But he decides to pacify Christy, because he still loves  
  
her in his own way, and he's concerned and doesn't want  
  
her to be feeling so sad. So he decides to implement  
  
one more search to look for McNeill. But David has also  
  
done more than just organize volunteer search teams. He's  
  
kept in close contact with McNeill's old medical school  
  
buddy named Dr. Brice Layton. Who is remaining in El Pano  
  
to do whatever he can to find McNeill too. Everything from  
  
posting a news story in the El Pano newspaper to placing  
  
a missing person bulletin in the local post office. Plus  
  
he's also sent out some search details of his own as well.  
  
McNeill is eventually found by Dr. Layton, but when he  
  
is brought home to Christy, the young schoolteacher can  
  
sense he isn't the same man he was before. Because her  
  
nightmare was indeed accurate. For the man she loves,  
  
and the father of her baby to come, isn't the same  
  
anymore. As he's completely lost his memory due to a  
  
head wound, sustained as a result of the fall from his  
  
horse on slippery ice, and plunging headlong into a deep  
  
rocky ravine filled with chilling cold water. Will McNeill  
  
regain his memory in time for Christmas? Christy is praying  
  
that it will be so. As Christmas is indeed a time for  
  
true miracles to happen.  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Catherine Marshall's wholesome and moving story  
  
of Christy is owned by the Marshall-LeSourd family, LLC, and  
  
I'm in no way writing this story for profit or any form of  
  
financial gain. It's written solely for my own entertainment  
  
and intended for others to read. This is the sole purpose   
  
behind creating this work of fiction.   
  
  
  
  
"Christmas Man"  
  
  
  
Christy tried to hide her look of intense worry, as David put down the phone receiver  
  
solemnly, after fruitlessly attempting to contact the boarding house in El Pano.  
  
Where Neil McNeill was supposed to have visited an old medical school pal, just   
  
days before, but never arrived as scheduled. According to a brief conversation,  
  
David had with Dr. Brice Layton, just only two days before. The same day, when  
  
the winter storm worsened, and knocked out service to the telephone line. Which  
  
was out from Cutter Gap to El Pano and probably beyond.  
  
  
It had been snowing very heavily, as well as continuous, when Dr. McNeill departed  
  
Cutter Gap on horseback to journey to El Pano. His trip was both one of business  
  
and pleasure. As he had to pick up some much needed medical supplies that he was  
  
short on. In addition to having a meeting with a very close friend of his from  
  
his medical school days. Dr. Layton never got to reunite with "Macky," as he so  
  
fondly referred to him. But Dr. Layton wasn't about to leave El Pano until his  
  
former classmate was found. He would stay on just to conduct a personal search  
  
of his own and do inquiries from his end. As well as place a personal advertisement  
  
in El Pano's local newspaper called "The Mountain Bullet News". Then tacking up  
  
a missing person bulletin at the telegraph and post office. All this David was   
  
able to set into motion, just two days prior, by contacting Dr. Layton at the  
  
Sim's Boarding House.  
  
  
Yet as the young preacher put the phone back on its hook, he couldn't help let  
  
his concern for Christy, come shining through. As he was still kind of in love  
  
with her in his own way. Even after her breaking off their engagement, and her  
  
eventual marriage to McNeill, not long after calling it quits with him. Sure the  
  
sting of her rejection still hurt somewhat. But it had eased with the passage  
  
of time, and with the presence of, a new woman in his life as well. Though  
  
Serena Mcpherson wasn't Christy, nor could she even hold a candle to her, she was  
  
the only person that had brought some hope and meaning back into his world. Besides  
  
God's intervention and support that is. Of course, he liked the fiery red-headed  
  
tomboy, who had just recently moved from Texas to Cutter Gap, in order to take   
  
care of her sick father. Jeremiah Mcpherson was a former Calvary soldier, who had  
  
taken up blacksmithing and horse boarding, upon his return home to Cutter Gap. He'd  
  
come home to the place of his birth, some ten years before, due to a leg injury  
  
and an honorable discharge.   
  
  
He left his young daughter in the care of his sister in Houston, Texas. Being that  
  
his wife had died in childbirth, soon after Serena's birth, and he didn't want  
  
her to live the life of a military brat anymore. Reenie, as David so nicknamed her,  
  
reminded him a lot of Calamity Jane in her own way. Because she could shoot a gun,  
  
and outride any man on horseback, but this is where the likeness ended. As Reenie  
  
was very feminine in her own way, despite the fact that she often wore men's pants  
  
and shirts, being that she would don a dress for a dance or other special occasion  
  
in Cutter Gap.   
  
  
"David, you've just got to send out another search team, please!!" implored Christy  
  
with an ashen pallor to her usual rosy cheeks now. Before David could respond back  
  
to her plea. She fainted dead away, and he was just able to catch her in time,  
  
before she went hitting the hardwood floor. He cursed at himself silenty for being  
  
lost in his own reverie, and thoughts of the pretty Reenie Mcpherson, by deliberately  
  
ignoring the new Mrs. Neil McNeill. "Alice!" blurted David, at the top of his  
  
lungs, as he carried Christy's very still form in his arms from the office to the  
  
head of the stairway. Alice came rushing down the steps, at the preacher's summons,  
  
followed closely by Rubie Mae in tow.   
  
  
"Christy just passed out. I was about to talk to her, and then the next thing I know,  
  
she was unconscious as now!" explained the preacher with mounting regard in his  
  
voice. Miss Alice didn't say a word to him. She just motioned for him to follow  
  
her up to Christy's old room. "Fetch some smelling salts form my bag, Rubie Mae,"  
  
she instructed the blonde-headed teenage girl, who was looking on from the bottom  
  
of the bannister. Then she continued to climb the stairway, with David very close  
  
behind, and Christy nestled in the protective crook of his arms. After David  
  
deposited his former love interest onto the bed, he stepped back and watched on  
  
anxiously, as Miss Alice went to work checking her vitals and such.   
  
  
"What's wrong with Christy, Alice? Is she ill or something?" asked the boyishly-  
  
handsome man. "Nothing to worry about, David, Christy will be just fine. Only a  
  
mere fainting spell. You see, teacher is with child, almost two months along I   
  
calculate. These kind of things happen sometimes. I confirmed the pregnancy  
  
with an examination just last week. But thee mustn't tell anyone, thee knows,  
  
as I promised Mrs. McNeill I wouldn't say a word to anyone alright?" revealed  
  
the woman who had been like a second mother to him.  
  
  
Before David could get a word in edgewise, Rubie Mae came bursting into the room,  
  
with the smelling salts in hand. "Tell Christy that I will talk to her later,  
  
about another search for McNeill, just as soon as she's feeling up to it," conveyed  
  
the preacher to Alice. Just right before taking leave of them, so they could tend  
  
to their patient, who needed all the quiet she could get right now. As David  
  
descended the stairway and stepped back into Alice's private office. A feeling of  
  
utter hopelessness overwhelmed him with regards to the mysterious fate of the  
  
good doctor. McNeill had been missing for over a week now, and no one knew for  
  
sure, if he was alive or dead at this stage.   
  
  
Though he and many of the men from Cutter Gap, both volunteered and formed  
  
search parties, two trips to McAllen Ridge and beyond, yielded them absolutely  
  
nothing. All that was found by the searchers, was McNeill's tan-colored horse  
  
named Charlie, who had almost succumbed to the harsh and snowy weather. McNeill's  
  
cobalt-blue neck scarf was also found on the ice. It had a very special meaning.  
  
Being that it was knitted by Christy, for him personally as a gift last year,  
  
to symbolize their very first Christmas together as man and wife. The scarf  
  
was found on the edge of McAllen Ridge, which over looked a deep rocky ravine  
  
below, that was covered over with dead brush and a pool of icy running water.  
  
  
No signs of a body had been found either, which was a good indication, McNeill  
  
might very well still be alive. But it was almost like he disappeared off of the  
  
face of the earth. There was no doubt that McNeill had probably suffered an injury.  
  
Because Charlie not only had frostbite, but he had a leg sprain, which was a sure  
  
sign that the horse suffered a fall. David was right in the midst of some serious  
  
concentration, when Rubie Mae distracted his attention, by popping her noisy head  
  
into Miss Alice's office to let him know that Christy was awake and doing fine.  
  
The preacher was in pure conflict with himself, as to whether or not, he should  
  
send out another search detail as per Christy's entreaty to him.  
  
  
There were many reasons why he shouldn't order another search team. One of the  
  
most important being, the very severe weather conditions in Cutter Gap and  
  
surrounding areas, which made travelling very dangerous. The snow had been falling  
  
heavily, for the last two days straight, and the roads were very slippery and  
  
unsafe. McAllen Ridge might very well be impassable at this stage as well. Because  
  
of the huge diluge of snow, and there was always, the very real threat of avalanches  
  
too. So either way, he was damned if he did, and damned if he didn't do as Christy  
  
begged him. Okay, one more search team it was to McAllen Ridge, but after that no  
  
more right away. At least not until the snow started letting up somewhat. As he  
  
just didn't want to go risking the lives of other men, just to save one man, who  
  
might have very well met his own fate already.  
  
  
David was in the process of gathering his thoughts about the new search team,  
  
which he was going to organize himself, and which would include him, Jeb,  
  
Birdseye, and anyone else who cared to volunteer. When Miss Alice came  
  
sauntering into the office, looking haggard and worn, and who commenced to   
  
sink down into the confine of the wooden chair near her roll-top desk.  
  
"Christy is okay and resting. So is thee gonna form another search party? As  
  
per Christy's petition of you, David?" inquired the solicitious woman of God.  
  
  
All David did was silently nod his head, which gave her all the answer, she  
  
was looking to get from him. He then smiled softly at her, before exiting the  
  
office, so he could say a few prayers in private about tomorrow's journey.  
  
He would pray that he'd still have enough bravery, as well as emotional  
  
fortitude, to go out adrift in the very bad weather to locate McNeill.  
  
  
Several hours later, with nightfall about to end, and the first hint of  
  
daybreak peeping into the curtains of her window. Christy awoke from her  
  
sleep in a virtual cold sweat, after having a terrifying nightmare, in which  
  
she envisioned Neal hurt. He had a bandage wrapped around his head, and he  
  
was down on his knees in a barn somewhere, literally digging his fingernails  
  
into both of his tightly-clenched fists. This caused the tender flesh on  
  
his palms to bleed profusely. But it wasn't the blood which scared Christy so.  
  
It was Neil's blank and damaged mind. She could sense that he was deeply  
  
troubled and didn't know who he was. It was the impact of his loss of memory  
  
that so frightened her. This reality is what stirred her from her sleep.  
  
  
Wherever he was? He was being cared for very well. This she could feel. But  
  
he had amnesia, and that meant, he no longer knew her or anyone associated  
  
with Cutter Gap. Christy sighed inwardly at this thought, and the knowledge  
  
cut like a knife, because just as they'd found each other and became one as  
  
man and wife. She was about to lose him all over again. As she got up from the  
  
bed, she started to weep softly, and the tears began to stream down from her  
  
corn-blue colored eyes at will. This was only going to be there second Christmas  
  
together, and she had such a wonderful gift to present him with, which was the  
  
blessed news that she was going to give him a child. Something which he longed  
  
for. Craved to have. But couldn't for so many years.   
  
  
But alas that news was regulated to second place, after she got word, that her  
  
beloved husband had turned up missing. Wiping her tear-stained face, Christy  
  
tried to gain her composure back, as she peered from the window of her old room  
  
at the Mission House. The sun was just beginning to creep up into the sky, which  
  
signalled the start of a whole new day, even though there were very low temps  
  
and harsh winter conditions outside.  
  
  
As Christy gazed at the sun rising, her thoughts were both with Neil, and on  
  
Neil alone. Silently, she bowed her head in prayer, and held onto the golden  
  
cross that usually hung down from her neck. "Dear God, please let my Neil be  
  
found, and send him back safely home to me. I know Christmas is a time for  
  
miracles, and that among them, was the birth of your own loving son. So please  
  
give me the miracle that I'm asking for. Just so that my child will have its  
  
father. Amen," whispered Christy to herself and to the good Lord above.  
  
  
Just as she concluded her prayer, the young school teacher heard voices and  
  
moving about down below, so she quickly vacated her room and raced down the   
  
stairway. At the bottom of the landing, she saw David and Miss Alice, who were  
  
both decked out in their finest winter coats and gear. Both were also toting   
  
their rifles and kerosene lanterns as well. No one seemed to even take notice  
  
of her presence, as they were deeply in the midst of a conversation, which  
  
involved the general outline plan of the search and who would go here and there.  
  
  
But when Christy showed her sheer excitement, by clapping her hands and cheering,  
  
David and Miss Alice finally realized that they weren't at all by themselves.  
  
It was at this point, that Christy went over and flung her arms around David's  
  
midsection, and gave him the biggest hug in gratitude that she could muster.  
  
"We're leaving as soon as the sun is completely up. So don't fret, Christy,  
  
promise?" replied David in appreciation of her embrace with a slow smile.  
  
  
Christy drew herself away from the friendly hold of the preacher's arms,  
  
and made a sign of the cross, which was her assurance that she was going to be  
  
just fine. He then winked at her teasingly in acknowledgement, before he and  
  
Alice headed outdoors, to meet the other volunteers and mount their horses.  
  
Christy told the twosome to wait a moment, while she got her red woolen coat,  
  
as she wanted to bid them farewell before they left. David and Miss Alice  
  
waited patiently, as she went to fetch her coat, which only took a matter of  
  
minutes. But as David, Miss Alice, and the others were ready to depart Cutter  
  
Gap. So as to implement their mutual search to locate Dr. McNeill.  
  
  
A man on horseback, toting a heavy litter behind him, came riding up from out   
  
nowhere from the road. As the rider approached the Mission House, it became  
  
very apparent to the eye, that he was transporting someone else on the litter.  
  
For the passenger was stretched out on the litter, and their head was bandaged,  
  
as well as an exposed arm in a sling. As both strangers got nearer for everyone  
  
gathered to see. Christy gasped in utter disbelief, for the man, laying wrapped  
  
up on the litter was indeed Neil.  
  
  
Exactly who the other man was, Christy didn't know for sure, nor did she care.  
  
What only mattered was, that she was grateful to him, for returning her precious  
  
husband to her. When the rider dismounted his horse. He then went over to the   
  
litter, and tended to Neil, who was bundled up underneath a thick home-made  
  
quilt, in addition to other coverings to prevent him from getting a chill. He  
  
was also wearing a steel-gray colored thick woolen sweater with a fur-lined long  
  
black coat over the top of it. After making sure that he was warm enough and secure.  
  
The rider then told him to remain still, while he left him for a minute or two, to  
  
talk to the onlookers of Cutter Gap.  
  
  
  
The tall man had raven-black hair and wore bifocals. As he headed towards the little   
  
crowd assembled. Christy was the first, who went to greet him personally and shake his  
  
hand. "Mrs. McNeill, I presume? Dr. Brice Layton. An old friend of Macky's.  
  
introduced the man himself to her. "Dr. Layton, didn't you call David from El Pano  
  
just two days ago. How were you able to locate Neil so fast? " asked the school  
  
marm curiously. "Well as you know, David Grantland and I, have kept in close  
  
communication about Macky for a few days prior to the snowstorm that made the  
  
phones go down. SO we coordinated a lot of things from a newspaper ad to a notice  
  
in the post office about him. When I spoke to David last, which was two days ago,  
  
I told him that I would do all the I could on my side to help and I did. It seems  
  
Macky was saved by a widow woman, and her teenage son, who were also travelling  
  
on the ridge the same night that he was. Somehow or other, Macky's horse bolted  
  
I assume, and he was thrown into that very deep ravine below the ridge. He would've  
  
met certain death by drowning, or eventual exposure, had it not been for the woman's  
  
soon fishing him out from the ravine. His head did happen to strike a jagged rock  
  
on his way down, and he sustained a nasty head wound, which resulted in a very bad  
  
concussion. He now has amnesia, as you must be told, and cannot even remember his   
  
own name at this time. The widow Lettie Hendrix, and her son Jake, kept Macky with  
  
them for a few days. But when he lapsed into a coma, due to the head injury, they  
  
decided to bring him to El Pano in search of someone to help him. By pure chance,  
  
they stopped in at the post office to get their mail as well, and read the notice  
  
I left about him missing. They in turn came to the boarding house with Macky in  
  
litter. I treated his head wound, broken arm, and cracked ribs. Eventually he  
  
came out of the coma, which only lasted for a few hours, but there was nothing  
  
I could do about his memory."  
  
  
  
"The Widow Hendrix and Jake called him Christmas Man, as they didn't know his  
  
real name, or who he really even was. Nor did Macky know who he was. So that's   
  
what you should call him for now. At least until he remembers who he truly is.  
  
Lettie Hendrix called him "Chris" for short, and so did I, instead of my fond name  
  
of Macky. There is a chance that he will regain his memory fully. But there's also  
  
the chance that he may not. So all you can do now is wait and hope. He needs time  
  
to heal right now. That's all you can do for him at this point," professed the  
  
doctor in detail. Christy thanked Dr. Layton once more. Then she went over to the  
  
litter to visit with Neil. "Neil, it's Christy, don't you even know me at all?"  
  
she coaxed softly. As she let her hand stroke one of his ruggedly handsome cheeks  
  
and gazed into deep-set cat green eyes. Neil just stared back at her with no  
  
expression of recognition in his face. "Who's this Neil person, lass, you speak  
  
of? I don't know him. My name is Chris. So please call me that, thankya, " he  
  
answered back in his thick Scottish brogue. " In time, my love, in time. You're  
  
gonna remember who I am and who you are. I just know it. Especially since it's  
  
the morning of Christmas Eve. It will happen for you, just wait and see,  
  
darling," she replied gently. Then she bent down over him and brushed her warm  
  
lips against his frosty brow. Christmas was indeed a time for miracles..and in  
  
time...her Neil would be her Neil again. The first miracle was his return home.  
  
So there would be lots more miracles to come. She just knew it in her heart of   
  
hearts. Neil was going to get his memory back, which would in turn, bring him  
  
back to her and the love they once shared. She would just continue to be patient  
  
and not lose faith. For the very presence of Christmas, not only inspired faith,  
  
but also the true definition of what love was all about. Christy wasn't about to  
  
give up on either prospect. She had her husband back now..and the rest would  
  
come with time...one day at a time.   
  
  
  
  
END OF CHAPTER 1 ------------------------------------------SEASON'S GREETINGS!!  
  
  
Memo: If you'd like to comment on my story, please contact me at my email address  
  
of storymakerone@lycos.com - thanks for reading!! - Calais Blackwell..:) 


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